Golden Knights expelled from hotel in San Jose when hotel closes abruptly

In Justin Emerson

Sat, March 6, 2021 (noon)

The Golden Knights beat the Sharks in overtime last night, but had to work hard to figure out where to stay after the game.

The hotel where the Golden Knights were staying, the Fairmont Hotel, in the center, suddenly closed on Friday.

“This is probably the first time for everyone on our team,” said defender Nick Holden.

The Golden Knights packed up and left for the track as a normal last day in a city, then returned to a different hotel after the game. They play against the Sharks again at 7:30 pm today, before leaving for Minnesota, as part of a road series with the Wild.

“It was a surreal experience,” said coach Pete DeBoer. “Hopefully this is the end of the COVID year, but it was almost the top of the cake for what last year was for everyone in the world. Just something else thrown at you, something else to deal with.

“Not that I’m thinking about the same thing as dealing with COVID, but it was just one of those things that threw us, we dealt with it and found a way to start well, so good resilience for our group. “

The hotel, called “landmark” and “iconic” by the San Jose Mercury News, was a victim of the hotel crisis in California, according to the newspaper. Over the course of 2020, only 14 credit default cases were filed against hotels in the state. In January alone, there were at least 20.

Mercury News reported that the hotel’s owners had debts between $ 100 and $ 500 million, but hope to reopen in a few months.

This will affect more than just the Golden Saints. Because of NHL virus protocols, the league designates a hotel in a city to serve as accommodation for all visiting teams to ensure that the hotel complies with the league’s rules.

Therefore, when the St. Louis Blues come to town on Monday, they will not be staying at the Fairmont Hotel.

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